Reptile & Amphibian Forums

100 days later, at 12hour/day use. Still averaging 250mw/cm2 at 12 inches.

what kind of temps are you getting at 12" and whats the ambient when they are on
thx

Joel,
At 12" it is 125 degrees in the high uv area which is about a 1/2" dot, move the temp sensor 1" in either direction and the temp drops to 110 degrees. I try to keep the ambient between 70 and 85 degrees, this is controlled by space heaters. The igs seem to like to maintain a temp around 98 degrees when they are most active. The bulb was lowered to 12 inches for the picture and am currently keeping them about 18 inches up, though that often ends up being 12" from the ig sunning under them.

John where do you get these bulbs. I have tried all the reptile ones(is the weston bulb marketed as a reptile bulb?) and they really stink. Average life only about a couple months and they start flickering off and on and soon go out. They are just very unreliable. I am using 24 plus bulbs so price is a concern. How much do these run? Thanks, Tom

Tom,
The bulbs were in trial stages when I got them, and it looks like Weston choose to develop a different bulb -- rather than mass market this potentially dangerous one. I got them from Bob MacCarger. The following is an excerpt from Bob's reply to my last post on the yahoo uv group site:

"A word on the R40 SPOT 60wt lamps that I worked so hard to get
public. We have scraped that idea. The decay that you have seen and
published in you photo gallery (please take the time to view Johns
pictures on the addy provided) have taken us in a different direction.

If you visit the (not complete and running and just kind of stupid
right now) web site www.reptileuv.com (go to products catalog), you
will see the next generation of 60wt long distance UVB MV lamps (maga-
ray). These 60wt MV lamps will hardly decay (20% in six months) and
will deliver 100 uw/cm2 @ 4 feet. They will only be sold to
professionals who have a meter to register the out-put. They also
have a great quality light (CRI) and a wider foot print then the
experimental SPOT lamps. Like your SPOT lamp in the gallery, they
produce dangerous amounts of UVB at close range and can not be sold
to hobby keepers. They will be an excellent improvement to those with
large enclosures such as zoos and those in your position.

We are working hard on developing a non-decaying 60wt MV narrow FLOOD
lamp that will produce 100 uw/cm2 (without decay) in addition to low
level UVB producing FLOOD lamps for reptiles with a more sensitive UV
reactive skin such as some chameleons.

I have been saying for two years that things were going to have
drastic changes in the artificial UVB world. Its here, (almost).

Say hello to AJ for me,

Bobmac"

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UVB_Meter_Owners/message/1302

how much are they and where?

thanks
-----
Bud

www.myiguana.com/newprodwatac.html
-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

The light on the "myiguana" site is a lesser powered Weston bulb that was in trial stages and may not be available for much longer. The ones in the post above use the same ballast, but put out significantly more UVB. You can see some pictures of them in use at this address.

http://gallery.pethobbyist.com/index.pl?thumb=1&stype=2&si=cycluracornuta&perpage=12&sort=1&cat=500&user=38228

You can go here:

http://solarmeter.com/products.html

They were about 200, shipped express, but maybe the price is down, check it out.

They sometimes make bulk purchase for less on the Yahoo uvb meter group forum. I think members sign up, and when they have enough orders, they make a bulk purchase and get them for about 140.

Good luck.